Replica Vietnam Memorial Wall unveiled in Fort Wayne by ABC21 WPTA posted May 21, 2021 on YouTube
In the Spring of 2021, the Veterans National Memorial Shrine and Museum unveiled the 360 foot long Vietnam Memorial Wall, an 80% replica of the original Vietnam Wall in Washington D.C. It’s now a permanent display on the grounds that draws visitors near and far to reflect and remember our fallen heroes for all to see.
Search for names at the Vietnam Veterans Memorial Fund at the Wall of Faces.
November 11, 1982 the Vietnam Veterans Memorial in Washington D. C. with 58,220 names on 140 black granite panels welcomed its first visitors and was dedicated November 13, 1982.
The Vietnam Veterans Memorial in Washington, D.C. — dedicated 40 years ago today — was first envisioned by a 21-year-old...
The Vietnam Veterans Memorial in Washington, D.C. — dedicated 40 years ago today — was first envisioned by a 21-year-old Yale University architecture student who won a national design competition for the site. The Library is home to the drawings Maya Lin submitted for the contest, as well as perspective drawings by Paul Stevenson Oles, which helped put Lin's vision in context on the National Mall.
Earlier this year, Librarian of Congress Dr. Carla Hayden spoke with Lin about her design and her career:
Conversation with Maya Lin at the Opening of the Treasures Gallery, Jul 8, 2024 on YouTube
As part of the opening of the new David M. Rubenstein Treasures Gallery at the Library, Librarian of Congress Carla Hayden talked with American architect, designer and sculptor Maya Lin, who started her remarkable career when, as an architecture student at Yale University in 1981, she proposed a radical yet simple concept for the Vietnam Veterans Memorial. That design is now part of the Library's collections and on display in the new gallery.
Vietnamese Conflict, 1961-1975About this collection Following the conclusion of the French Indochina War in 1954, Vietnam was divided into communist North Vietnam and noncommunist South Vietnam. In the late 1950s, North Vietnam activated communist cadres in the South in an effort to take the country by force. Concerned that these actions might trigger a wider war in the area, America pursued intervention eventually committing armed forces in March 1965. Hoosiers volunteered and/or were drafted to serve in all military capacities during what became a controversial conflict at home (known in America as the Vietnam War). In 1973, the Paris Peace Accords were signed. U.S. troops were withdrawn and many prisoners of war were repatriated. North Vietnamese forces overran the South Vietnamese army by 1975 and created a unified, communist Vietnam. At We Do History online digital collection by the Indiana Historical Society.
On National #VietnamWarVeteransDay, we honor Vietnam veterans and thank them for their service and sacrifice. Today, marks the 50 years since the U.S. Military Assistance Command in Vietnam was disestablished
On National #VietnamWarVeteransDay, we honor Vietnam veterans and thank them for their service and sacrifice. Today, marks the 50 years since the U.S. Military Assistance Command in Vietnam was disestablished.
Two Military Assistance Command, Vietnam (MACV) team leaders used photographs from the time to discuss their day-to-day experiences and responsibilities as military advisers in rural Vietnam. Both were in their early twenties at the time, and they also discussed efforts to help with economic and agricultural redevelopment.
MACV teams were often small groups of U.S. Army officers assigned to remote areas, supported only by South Vietnamese forces. This event was part of a MACV teams 60 and 65 50th anniversary reunion in Charleston, South Carolina.
Former Friday, July 19, 2024 post by Senior Life-Allen County on Facebook:
Commander Greg Bedford stands in front of the 80% replica of the Vietnam Wall in Washington, D.C. Installation of the wall put the Veterans National Memorial Shrine and Museum on the map and established it as a national tourist destination. Photo provided by Greg Bedford.
When Greg Bedford became commander of the Veterans National Memorial Shrine and Museum in 2017, it couldn't even be considered a "work in progress."
"In fact," he said. "there hadn't been any progress here since I first saw it in 2006. It was basically 40 acres of knee-high grass and weeds. A Vietnam War Monument, which had been erected in the 1990s, was overgrown, and there were a scattering of monuments representing other conflicts."
There was also a small woefully inadequate collection of artifacts that served as a museum. That was it.
"They did, however, have a mower and I started cutting the growth. The neighbor lady, Karen Goodwin, pitched in, a few volunteers showed up and things started to move," Bedford said.
At the time, Bedford was head of the veteran's committee at General Motors, where he has worked for the past 26 years. "We were looking for a good community project to support and decided on the Veterans National Memorial," he said. "When the opportunity arose to get the traveling Vietnam Wall here permanently, we took it. If someone would have told me back then that we could raise $1.25 million in donations, I would have said they were crazy."
The wall, which is an 80% replica of the original one in Washington, D.C., was installed in 2021.
"It literally put us on the map. We got a tourism grant from Allen County, which got us a parking lot, lighting, city water, and a lot of other infrastructure and jump-started the whole thing," he said. "We went from a second-rate Fort Wayne/Allen County/ northeast Indiana attraction to a national destination. We get bus tours in here every month and our guest book lists folks from all over the country and a few foreign countries as well."
To read the rest of the amazing article on page 2 by Feature Writer Rod King, pick up a copy of Senior Life - Allen County, or visit https://www.seniorlifenewspapers.com/ to read it digitally!
